A turbocharger is a turbine-driven forced-induction device that increases airflow in an internal combustion engine. A compressor, which is driven by turbine, draws in ambient air and compresses it before it enters the engine at an increased pressure. This results in a greater mass of air entering cylinders of the engine on each intake stroke, which increases the engine's efficiency through decreased throttling losses and increases the engine's power output. Kinetic energy of exhaust gas produced by combustion of the air and fuel within the cylinders is then utilized to drive the turbine of the turbocharger.
Conventional control of vehicle turbocharger systems is often inefficient. One potential source of this inefficiency is the large number of interconnected components (compressor, turbine, throttle valve, wastegate valve, etc.) and their varying fluid effects. These conventional turbocharger control techniques involve complex modeling and computation, which is difficult and sometimes infeasible for implementation by an engine control unit (ECU). Accordingly, while such turbocharger control systems work for their intended purpose, there remains a need for improvement in the relevant art